Annalisa Photography

Mehndi (or henna) actually comes from Egypt. Pharaohs used to tattoo their fingers and toes before mummification to ensure their recognition into the afterlife.

Now days, it's known as an Indian art although it's practiced in many asian countries. In India,weddings are not complete without a mehndi ceremony where the bride gets mehndi on her hands and feet. Many people also use mehndi in their hair as a conditioner (if you've seen old indian men or women with bright orange hair or beards, its mehndi).

It's also become quite a touristy thing to get mehndi done - it's less nerve wrecking than a permanent tattoo so it can be quite popular. It usually lasts for no more than a couple weeks. You can get black mehndi too (looks more like a real tattoo), but the chemical they put in it to stain your skin is actually pretty harmful.

Once you get mehndi done - you have to be careful not to smudge it until its dry. It will eventually start to crust off. The longer you leave it on, the darker it will be so traditionally you should not wash it off for the whole day and just let the dry mehndi slowly fall off. The first day it will be bright orange, the next day it will be more of a red colour. You can do other tricks to make it darker like apply oil to the mehndi once its dry to re-moisten it and let the dying continue.